Iron Works Cafe

Excellent food made with local ingredients and incredibly friendly service. We were lucky to stumble on the iron works café while driving through town. Family friendly, community oriented, and great food. Smoothies and parfaits for the kids, and great sandwiches for the adults. Don’t miss this great spot.

Take note – Manistee should be incredibly proud of Iron Works! It’s mission is both vital and beneficial: to offer delicious, healthy, locally-​sourced food, prepared and served by members of the community, with an added emphasis on helping those in need (free soup nights, donation-​based coffee, food vouchers for those who need a meal but can’t afford the regular cost, etc).
The interior of the café has been thoughtfully and tastefully designed, with shiny wooden tables and mason jars of fresh wild flowers. Because they are still in the start-​up phase, the menu is still limited, but we enjoyed the Iron Worker sandwich (barbequed chicken and slaw on multigrain bread), the savory veggie chips, and the iced tea. Everything tasted fresh and small batch – no preservatives, microwaves, or cans of industrial glop in sight! The staff was hardworking, pleasant, and happy to discuss the provenance of all of the ingredients.
If you are in the giving mood and want to juice up your karma bank, you can buy prepaid food vouchers for community members who are hungry and in need of a helping hand. We left the café feeling nourished in both body and spirit!

Amazing local food. The iron worker sandwich and the root vegetable soup are very good. This is a new restaurant, so hours are limited right now. Only lunch and bkfast and pretty limited menu. Hopefully it will expand both hours and menu soon, because it is really good. Cool renovated corner of an old iron foundry in a neat town on the river.